Forexpros – U.S. consumer confidence improved significantly more-than-expected in February, rising to the highest level since February of last year, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group said its index of consumer confidence rose by 9.3 points to 70.8 in February from a reading of 61.5 in January, whose figure was revised up from 61.1.
Analysts had expected the index to rise by 1.5 points to 63.0 in February.
The Present Situation Index increased to 45.0 from 38.8. The Expectations Index rose to 88.0 from 76.7 in January.
Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “Consumers are considerably less pessimistic about current business and labor market conditions than they were in January.”
“Despite further increases in gas prices, they are more optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy, job prospects, and their financial situation,” she added.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar trimmed losses against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.03% to trade at 1.3402.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets held on to modest gains after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.35%.
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